1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drill press having an overhead mount for supporting a power-operated drilling unit, enabling holes to be drilled with precision at desired locations in a large workpiece positioned in a work area located beneath the drilling unit.
2. Prior Art
Despite the increasing demand for versatile power-driven tools of high quality, there are no appropriately inexpensive tools available which are well suited to accurately drill holes at substantially any desired location in a large workpiece such as a plywood sheet.
Portable electric drills lack the precision and accuracy necessary for close tolerance work, and often are not capable of developing the cutting power needed to drill through hard materials. Fixed stand drill presses impose still other restrictions on the type of work which can be undertaken. Drill presses of present day construction support a power-operated drilling unit above a work area which is defined by an underlying support table. The support table is located above a base, but beneath a drilling-unit chuck, and is intended to support a workpiece beneath a drill bit carried in the chuck. An upstanding column supports the table and the drilling unit (sometimes referred to as a drill head), and passes through the plane of the support table. The distance from the column to the axis of rotation of the chuck is defined as the throat distance of the press, and this throat distance limits the reach of the chuck from an edge of the workpiece to typically about 12 to 18 inches. The size of the workpieces with which previously proposed drill presses can be used is further limited by the lengths of their columns, i.e., the usable heights between their bases and drill bits carried in their chucks.
While large, specially configured, heavy duty drill presses are employed in industrial installations to permit the accurate drilling of holes as needed in products being fabricated, industrial drill presses are typically large and expensive, and are not appropriate for home use.